#4 Head on a stick?
Officials: Al Qaeda's Mad Scientist Killed
One of al Qaeda's top chemical and biological weapons experts was killed in an air strike by a CIA pilotless drone in a remote Pakistani border region, senior Pakistani intelligence officials told CBS News Tuesday morning.
Intelligence officials investigating the early Monday missile attack confirmed that Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri was one of six men killed and his remains had been positively identified.
"We now have a positive ID on the body. I can confirm to you that Al-Masri has been killed," a Pakistani intelligence official told CBS News on the condition of anonymity. Earlier reports claimed that the six men killed included three Arabs, while the other three were believed to be Afghans or Pakistanis.
However, the intelligence official who spoke to CBS Tuesday said all six men were Arabs. Those killed also included Sheikh Ibrahim, a mid ranking al Qaeda operative believed to be either Egyptian or Jordanian. The other four victims were described as ordinary foot soldiers. The intelligence official did not provide the full names nor the citizenship of the four lower ranking militants.
While al-Masri was among al Qaeda's senior-most operatives, it was difficult to ascertain the damage his death could theoretically inflict upon the terror group, if confirmed. A senior Pakistani security official, who also spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, said that, despite heightened fears after Sept. 11 that al Qaeda was determined to carry out chemical and biological weapons attacks, the group has largely relied on suicide and conventional arms attacks in locations such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"Al Qaeda has never proven itself as a potent force in using chemical and biological weapons," said the official. "If al-Masri has in fact died, his death will not cripple al Qaeda or the Taliban." |
A top Al Qaeda chemical and biological weapons expert was reportedly killed in a suspected United States missile strike in the Tribal Areas on Monday, security officials said.
Officials had earlier said that three Arab militants and three Pakistani children were killed when missiles fired by a suspected US drone hit a house attached to a mosque in the South Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan. "We believe he was killed in this strike," a senior intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "It was his hide-out and information that has been shared with us says he was targeted in this strike."